I worked at a Catholic summer camp a few years ago. I asked a seminarian who was serving with me what the biggest takeaway for him was so far. He answered with a profound statement: “I have found prayer as leisure this summer.” This sentence changed my whole perspective on prayer.
Amidst the craziness of a summer camp, personal prayer time was a pivotal time of rest during our day. We could find rest, comfort, pattern, and God’s peace in prayer everyday. Prayer and the Mass is where we as counselors could refuel to minister and love the campers. My seminarian friend had never seen prayer in that light during the school year with his commitments to holy hours and praying the Liturgy of the Hours. He and I both came to realize that this reality is not limited to just summer camp but prayer always. We need to have time for prayer for many reasons: to find rest, to have an abundant life, and to be the men God needs us to be.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)
To Find Rest
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” – St. Augustine
The world is fast and ever-moving. It doesn’t take a scientist to see and understand that. If you looked at your calendar for this week, you probably wouldn’t see a lot of time to rest. For me as a college student, it is classes, two jobs, two ministries, community, and then finding time for prayer. What if we found prayer as leisure? I have found when I have a lot of stress or my mind is racing that is best to find a chapel or quiet space to center myself on God. I offer up my burdens to Him at the Cross in prayer and during the Mass at the offertory. As I do this, I really feel the burdens lift.
Prayer allows us to remember the goodness of God, how He has been good to us in the past. When we remember and meditate on His goodness throughout our life, in the lives of the saints, and in Scripture, it helps us to know that He is good in our present moment. I have been touched by Psalm 42:7 recently: “My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember thee.” King David gives us a formula for when we are downcast and burdened: remember God and His goodness. Since “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8), we know that He is faithful and good today.
I see prayer as the time where we set our ‘speedometer’ to God’s speed. The world moves fast but God is faithfully slow. It is not an imprudent slow but a wise slow. When hundreds of emails are coming to you or your schedule is crammed, a few minutes of prayer can help us move at the speed of God, not of the world.
To Have An Abundant Life
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
This Scripture is a promise from God that we would have abundant life. I think many of us would agree that we are not seeing this in the average Catholic. Prayer and the Sacraments are where we receive the abundant life of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Our lives as Catholics should be marked by the fruit of the Spirit. If you have anxiety, fear, or stress, turn to God. He earnestly desires to take away the burdens that He didn’t will to be there and to give us His fruit of the Spirit. Practically, I have seen this happen when offering up things to the Lord as I have mentioned. At Mass during the Offertory, I pray in my heart, “Jesus, I give you my school work. I give you my family. I give you my job.” I freely offer Him everything that is over occupying me or stressing me. I give Him the good and the bad. We can do this by virtue of our baptismal priesthood. After the Offertory, the priest prays ‘May my sacrifice and yours be acceptable to God the Father…’, showing that we are supposed to bring some sacrifice to the altar at Mass. Through the Eucharist, we can receive peace, joy, and love for our day to day activity. I challenge you men to make it to Mass maybe once more per week if able. The fruits will be clear and visible in your lives.
To Be The Men God Needs Us To Be
When we live out of rest, the way we interact in the world is all the better. Our anger doesn’t flare up at others. Our mind is focused on the priorities highlighted by God. We can follow His will when we rest at the feet of Jesus in prayer. We have to be near Him to hear Him the clearest.
When we make time to meditate and pray, we become more like Jesus. As we ‘look’ at Him more and more, we begin to look and act like Him more and more. You can’t become what you don’t know.
Let prayer be leisure this week. Find rest in God. Talk to Him about your burdens and let His whisper guide you and bring you peace.
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